Ramen is a Japanese style soup that has become quite popular in America. A bowl of ramen is a delicious flavourful bomb that is rich in texture and colours. It is made in a well-seasoned broth, some noodles, topped with vegetables and meat, but it can be customized to match your favourite ingredients the way you want. The dish is inspired by traditional ramen noodles but will be ready in under an hour.
This homemade recipe is nothing if not flavour packed. It requires three basic steps for preparation- preparing broth that is well seasoned, preparing the noodles and lastly, customizing your soup with your favourite toppings.
Origin
Traditionally, ramen is made with Chinese wheat noodles that are prepared with a chicken or meat. The dish is often flavoured with soy sauce and topped with sliced meat, scallions, boiled egg and nori (dried seaweed) and other vegetables.
Ramen is a Japanese adaptation of Chinese wheat noodles and almost every region in Japan has its own variant of the recipe. Such as tonkotsu ramen which is a pork bone broth famous in Kyushu and the miso ramen in Hokkaido.
Variety of Ramen Noodles
Ramen is a combination of the noodles, broth, meat and vegetables but you can customize it any way you want. Here are a few variants of your favourite ramen that you must try if you are a noodles recipe fan-
- Meatball Ramen- a filling meal that is kid-friendly as well.
- Mushroom Ramen- a ramen recipe which is delicious and also vegan with the rich flavour of mushrooms.
- Hot and sour Ramen- This ramen has a tangy flavour that gives you the taste of Thai cuisine.
- Chicken Ramen- Made with delicious broth, ramen and chicken this recipe is filling and is loved by everyone.
- Miso Ramen- miso is a fermented paste made with soy beans and grains and its broth tastes sweet and tangy. Miso ramen is flavoured with a chicken or pork broth and topped usually with eggs.
This ramen recipe gives you the taste of Japanese style Ramen without using authentic Japanese ingredients. I was inspired to write this recipe because a friend of mine introduced me to the beautiful culture of Japan, their food, lifestyle, art and the pretty cherry blossom trees. I hope that by this recipe you too get encouraged to try the delicious Japanese cuisine.
You can also try our other noodles recipe- Veg Hakka Noodles. Also, do not forget to read the tips at the end of the recipe.
Vegetarian Ramen Noodles Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 Spring Onions
- 8 to 10 pieces Mushrooms
- 6 to 8 pieces Baby Corn
- 1 cup broccoli
- 2 Carrots
- 1 medium sized Onion
- 2 Green Chillies
- 5-6 cloves of Garlic
- 1 inch Ginger piece
- A packet of ramen noodles or any noodles of your choice
- 200 grams Tofu
- 2 Tbsp.+ 2 tsp. Olive Oil
- 5 cups water
- 1 Tbsp. Salt or as required
- ½ Tbsp. Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Red Chilli powder
- 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp Red Chilli Sauce
- 1 Tbsp. Tomato Ketchup
- 3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
Instructions
Chopping Vegetables
- Chop spring onions, baby corn, broccoli and mushrooms roughly for the ramen.
- Chop garlic, onions and ginger finely. Chop the carrots into long and thin slices and the baby corn as disks.
- Separate some spring onion greens, baby corn, two mushrooms, carrots and broccoli for garnishing.
- Keep everything aside.
Preparing ramen stock
- Boil 5 cups of water and prepare the stock by adding spring onions, onion, ginger and garlic to the water.
- Add some carrots, baby corn, broccoli, mushrooms and 1 Tbsp. Salt to the stock.
- Add ½ Tbsp. black pepper, 1 Tbsp. Red chilli powder, 1 Tbsp. Sugar, 1 Tbsp Tomato ketchup and 1 Tbsp. Red Chilli Sauce.
- Lastly, add 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, 2 Tbsp. olive oil and let the stock cook for 30 minutes.
Preparing Noodles and Tofu
- Take a wide pan and fill it with 4 to 5 cups of water. Add 1 teaspoon oil, a pinch of salt and boil the water.
- Add the ramen noodles and boil on low flame till they are done.
- Sieve the noodles in a colander and keep them aside.
- Take the tofu pieces and cut them into long and thick slices. Dip the tofu pieces in soy sauce.
- In a pan add 1 tsp. Oil and stir fry the tofu until they are slightly golden. Then add 1 tsp black pepper, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp red chilli powder to the tofu. Keep it aside.
Assembling the Ramen
- Take all the vegetables that you kept separately for garnishing. Sauté them a little, one by one- baby corn, mushrooms, broccoli and carrots, so that they can be used as garnishing later. You don’t have to sauté the spring onion greens.
- Now take a bowl for assembling your ramen noodles. In the bowl add 1 Tbsp soy sauce and strain ramen stock into the bowl till it is filled up to 3/4th of the bowl.
- Add the ramen noodles to the bowl.
- Now add tofu on one side of the bowl. Decorate the rest of the bowl with baby corn, spring onion greens, mushroom, broccoli and carrots. You can get creative in this step and choose the toppings of your choice.
- Finally sprinkle the bowl with a little salt and pepper. Your Ramen is ready. Serve hot.
Tips
- If you like eggs then you can use a boiled egg and cut it into two halves vertically to garnish your ramen. You can also use a poached or fried egg.
- You can also use cottage cheese (paneer) instead of tofu since not everyone is familiar with the distinct flavour of tofu.
- you can get creative and add any type of vegetables you want in the stock.
- Do not boil noodles with the rest of the broth since starch is released from noodles which will get incorporated in the broth, making it heavier and cloudy. The noodles will also absorb the broth and will thicken it up.
- You can also use sesame seeds and sesame oil for garnishing your ramen.
Explore the beauty and the flavours of Japanese cuisine and try the delicious ramen recipe that is super easy to make. You can never get enough of this delicious and flavourful bowl of ramen.
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